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Placeholder while article actions load DAKAR, Senegal — In a part of Nigeria that has dealt with monkeypox outbreaks for years, one doctor saw the photos circulating in Western media this week and chuckled. “Those are the very severe cases,” said Oyewale Tomori, a virologist in the nation’s southwest. “Like, ‘Ahh! This is monkeypox!’ ” The virus — discovered five decades ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo — causes mild illness in most people, he said, along with blisters that usually clear up in weeks. It’s much less transmissible than the coronavirus and much less deadly than Ebola. There’s already an effective vaccine. What bothers infectious-disease experts across the continent is the double standard that has emerged since monkeypox grabbed the world’s attention: Few seemed to...

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The World Health Organization (WHO) says it expects to discover more cases of monkeypox as it expands surveillance in countries where the disease has yet to be identified. Between May 13 and May 21, at least 92 laboratory-confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox were reported to the WHO from 12 countries where the virus is not endemic. In non-endemic countries, one case is considered an outbreak. Eleven countries have been reporting monkeypox cases since it was first discovered in 1970: Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. By May 23, five more countries reported their first confirmed cases, bringing the total number of nations repo...

Loss or alteration of taste (dysgeusia) is a common symptom of COVID. It's also a side effect of several illnesses and medications, including Paxlovid, the new antiviral medication to treat COVID infection.   Although it affects fewer than 6 percent of people who are given Paxlovid, some report a "horrible" taste that came on soon after they started taking the drug. Dysgeusia is described as a bitter, metallic, or sour taste in the mouth. But what exactly is it, and what's going on in the body when it happens? What happens in the brain when we taste? Aside from the pleasure we get from eating food that tastes good, our sense of taste also serves other purposes. Taste helps us decide what to eat, ensuring we get enough nutrients and energy. It also helps us metabolize the foods we hav...